European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse George Wendt goes beyond the Norm Frank Rizzo Hartford Cohn courant Paramount pictures George Wendt known to the world As Norm is trying a summer of image adjustment. George Wendt hunches Over a picnic table As if there were an imaginary Beer in front of him. The Berkshire mountains setting in Massachusetts is far from that of televisions cheers where Wendt plays Norm Peterson the perpetual slug on a Stool Vera a Long suffering husband a candidate for the underachievers half of Fame. But there is something about Wendt that makes you feel Norm is not too far away. Maybe it s his Doughy figure and claymation. Face. Maybe it s his Side of the Mouth self deprecating its because the image of Norm is so Strong after eight years and five emmy nominations in the top rated Abc series. But this is the summer of image adjustment for. The 41 year old actor Wendt just finished playing opposite Robert de Niro in a Quot gut wrenching a drama. And in july he made his musical comedy debut As pseudo us in a funny thing happened on the Way to the forum the first show of the season at the Williamstown theatre festival in the berkshires. Quot it could be easy to stay Norm but it would be profoundly Boring Quot said Wendt during a rehearsal break at Williamstown. Quot from the Robert a de Niro drama to a full tilt Mug of Rama musical a i can to imagine a summer of startling Polar opposites. This is not my Safe Wendt says that the yet untitled film with de Niro is about blacklisting in Hollywood in the �?T50s. Quot de Niro plays a very successful director who gets blacklisted and his life goes completely to pot Quot he says. Quot one of the people he refuses to name is me his Best Friend a screenwriter who is about to get blacklisted although done to quite believe it Quot there Are some big scenes. Its a new experience for me. You be got to stay pretty close to the Edge All Day take after take Angle after Angle. It s certainly different from sitcom land a and in a not saying that and funny thing Quot it s Lovely music and there Are some fabulous voices in the cast Quot he says. Quot mine at the moment is adequate. Well see if it holds up. In a not real clued in As to the techniques of preserving one s Wendt says that As Long As he can get other work in film and theater the close identification with Norm is not a problem for him. Quot it s there Quot he said. Quot its kind of omnipresent but it s just a condition of the Way things have gone Down for that attitude is reflective of much of Wendt s life. Unlike in so Many show Biz stories Wendt was not burning with ambition to become a Star since he was a boy. For most of his youth and Young adult life he was just going along for the ride. Wendt was bom and raised on the South Side of Chicago. The second oldest of seven children Wendt followed his Jesuit prep school with a three year stint at notre Dame before he got kicked out a a mainly because i do anything. What i did mainly was party drink Beer and hang out in bars. I maintain that in a the Only person who wound up doing exactly what they did in College Quot in 1971, Wendt finished his academic career at Rockhurst cd siege in Kansas City Toa Small Jesuit school whore he majored in economics Quot for no apparent reason. Quot after College he returned to Chicago Quot and tried to think about what to do a capital letters. And i Learned from friends of mine that what you do is stall doing anything for a couple of years and buy a Backpack and go to thanks to cheap fares of icelandic airlines Wendt spent two years hitching around Europe a doing the loaf of bread thing a along with a 12-pack of when he returned to Chicago in 1973, he decided he wanted to be in the second City improvisational comedy troupe. Quot i had gone there several times and it really looked like so much fun to do. To me it just looked like a Bunch of people hanging out and goofing off on stage. Had i known How intense the Competition was from All these experienced new York actors i would have been Way it was also the first time Wendt had anything resembling a goal in life. Still for nearly a year he did t Tell anyone he was taking the second City workshops. Quot i probably thought committing to anything was a Little Dorky and might attract ridicule from my friends a who were pretty the experience also Quot made me really Boring at parties. I did t need that Yahoo outlet anymore Quot after a year of workshops followed by another year with the touring company Wendt was asked to join the prestigious resident group. One year later however he was demoted to the touring company because he was playing it top Safe for a company known for its Gutsy improvisations. Quot they did t dislike me or want me out of the organization. They just demoted me Back Down to the touring company. I could have gotten very Huffy and said a Well take your touring company and shove it but i stayed for another year. The firing freed me up and i was t running scared anymore. I was it was in the touring company that Wendt met Bernadette Birkette Best known for her Rote in it s Garry Shandling s show. They were married in 1978. Wendt returned to the resident company soon after he was married. But when his wife was offered a part in a television Pilot in los Angeles the couple relocated. Wendt got lots of work in guest roles in such series As soap Alice St. Elsewhere Mash and taxi. In 1982, he was cast Short lived series making the Grade. The following season came cheers. The demands of episodic television Haven t allowed Wendl much time for outside projects but he has appeared in such films As Gung to Fletch and thief of hearts. He has also appeared on stage in los Angeles in journey s end bleacher bums and indians. He first appeared at Williamstown two years ago m Stephen Collins super sunday and As Squire Western in Tom Jones. Wendt says cheers will filming its ninth season in August sunday july 29, 1990 to plus c
